The Beginning
by Melo Kiwi
Summary: Over 2000 years ago, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni set up the Shinigami Academy. Among the thousands of students that applied to this academy, three of them show excellent performance in the beginning. As a result, Genryuusai decides to take them in as his personal disciples. This is the story of Ukitake Juushiro, Kyoraku Shunsui, and Kurayami Haruna (OC) in their Academy years.
1. 1: The Beginning

**This is the first time I publish a fanfic. I hope you guys like it :) Leave comments and reviews~**

 **There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

"Excuse me," said a white-haired student as he tried to go through a busy hallway of the academy. _I_ _'_ _ll never get there on time,_ he thought to himself.

Every student was looking at him, talking about him in quiet whispers. "How can he have white hair and black eye brows?" "I think he dyed his hair." "What a rebel." He had become the new topic of small talk, and it was only the first day since the Shinigami Academy officially opened.

As he was busily walking, he bumped into someone.

"Whoa!" said the other person. "Watch where you're going!"

"Yes," replied the white-haired student, very politely. "I'm sorry."

"No need to be so polite," said the other person smiling. "I'm Kyoraku Shunsui."

"I'm Ukitake Juushiro. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too!" exclaimed Kyoraku.

Every student was looking at these two, talking about them. "I heard they are super rich!" "I think they know each other from before." "I wouldn't get too close to them if I were you." "Their hair colors are complete opposites: white and straight, black and wavy." Now the two had become the topic of small talk within a few minutes of entering.

"I think they're talking about us," said Ukitake, looking around.

"So what?" said Kyoraku. "Let them talk all they want. Does it really matter?"

"I guess not," said Ukitake, now looking at his new friend.

"We should go to the ceremony thing," Kyoraku suggested with a sullen face. "He'll get mad if we're late."

Kyoraku and Ukitake left the hallway and entered the room of the ceremony. The room was big, decorated with a flag of each division of the Gotei 13 in the back. Thousands of students went in before the two, and thousands of others came in after them. They all sat for a couple of hours in silence, listening to the director and founder of the academy, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni. For the first half of the speech, most of the students fell asleep or did something else, but for the second half, everybody listened in hopes that it would end soon.

"Like I mentioned before," said Yamamoto in a thundering voice, "this academy is to teach all of you how to fight and reason in a fight. It will give you the skill to do what you want to do: become stronger. Whether that is for your own sake or for somebody else's, it does not matter. What does matter is that you give your all to protect our home from the hollows that keep appearing. What matters is that you learn how to control your powers so that you may not hurt anyone innocent.

"No matter what happens, all of the students will receive the treatment they deserve, and there will be punishments for any major mischiefs. Now, go to your respective classes."

Upon these last words, every single student stood up and clapped until Yamamoto's silhouette disappeared completely from their sight. Then they all rushed out of the room into their respective classes. The classes were divided according to the students' exam results: those with the highest scores got into the first class. Both Kyoraku and Ukitake were in the First class.

No time was wasted on student introductions: the they could introduce themselves to each other some other time. Only the instructors introduced themselves, and right after that the teaching started. The first couple classes were solely spent on the basics: sword fight and reiatsu control. Then, there was a break.

"Man," said Kyoraku, sighing. "This is gonna be tough, don't you think?

"Maybe," replied Ukitake. "But I think it's also going to be fun."

Kyoraku just laughed and said, "Probably."

Suddenly, a girl bumped into Ukitake.

"Sorry!" she said. "I didn't see you right there."

"Don't worry," said Ukitake, looking down. "I didn't see you either."

She was slim and short, not taller that 5"2', and she had long red hair tied on one side. Her eyes, Ukitake noticed, were bluish gray, which was brought up even more by her hair. As soon as they apologized to each other, the girl kept going her way.

"Wow," Kyoraku admired. "She's cute."

"Really? That's all you can say?" Ukitake just looked at him and laughed. "Let's go eat."

They went to the beautiful garden of the academy, decorated with the flowers of spring that had just bloomed.

"It's really amazing how flowers always come out even after the coldest winters," noted Ukitake, talking more to himself than to his friend.

"Huh?" Kyoraku questioned, but upon the silence of his friend, he decided not to ask anything.

The two ate pretty much in silence, except for an occasional, "This tastes really good. You should try it." They spent the rest of the day focusing on their classes, and Kyoraku chasing girls around. After the last class, Kyoraku was flirting with a girl, and her face was so red that everybody knew she was embarrassed by whatever Kyoraku was telling her.

"Someday," Ukitake warned, "a girl will come and seriously hurt you emotionally."

"I'll worry about that when the time comes," Kyoraku replied lightly.

Ukitake managed to faintly smile at Kyoraku, but deep inside, he was worried. They had met long time ago, when their families got together for business. The Ukitake household was going through a very hard time, and the head of the Kyoraku family offered to help them. At that time, Juushiro, the oldest child of the Ukitake household, was found to be the same age as the second son of the Kyoraku household, Shunsui. Their first meeting was so short that they did not remember each other when they met again in the academy, but still they both felt that they had been friends for a very long time.

The next few weeks were spent doing the same: wake up, eat breakfast, go to class, have lunch, go to more classes, rest for a little bit, and train a couple hours. After the first month, the First class started a special type of kido training: the teacher would call three people up every day to have a kido fight between the three. This would require a higher level of concentration than when doing a one versus one fight, because now they would have to look out for two "enemies" rather than one.

One day during this kido training session, the teacher called Ukitake, along with two other names.

"Ukitake Juushiro, Kurayami Haruna, and Hiroshima Aoi, come to the circle."

Ukitake stepped up and looked at his fellow students who were called up. He was surprised to see the only girl in the trio: he had bumped into her the first day of class. She looked up to him and smiled; he smiled back. Then the three who had been called stepped into the circle where the fight would take place.

"Remember, you are free to use whatever kido you wish: hado, bakkudo, and kaido," said the instructor. "When there is only one person left standing, either because the other two are knocked out or because they gave up." As he said this, the teacher stepped out of the circle. "Start!"

As soon as the teacher said, "Start," Hiroshima Aoi attacked Kurayami.

"Hadou 4, Byakurai."

Kurayami, reacting fast, casted a shiled. "Seki." (Bakkudo 8)

Hiroshima was surprised by the fact that Kurayami was able to react fast and dodge it. While Hiroshima was awestruck, Ukitake attacked him.

"Hadou 4, Juugeki Byakurai."

Hiroshima jumped and successfully dodged the attack. For a few seconds, the three just stood there, and everybody watched in amazement how fast it all had happened. Then Hiroshima attacked Kurayami again, breaking the stillness of the moment.

"Hadou 31, Shakkahou."

Kurayami jumped, and this time she countered. "Hadou 33: Soukatsui"

Hiroshima jumped to dodge, and right at that moment, Ukitake sealed him. "Bakkudo 1, Sai."

Hiroshima was bounded by the seal, but he was able to break it soon. Then, he attacked Ukitake. "Hadou 32, Oukasen."

Ukitake used Bakkudo 8, Seki, without even saying anything. Hiroshima attacked again. "Hadou 31, Shakkahou."

Almost at the same time as Hiroshima attacked Ukitake, Kurayami attacked Hiroshima. "Hadou 33, Soukatsui."

Both Hiroshima and Ukitake jumped to dodge the attacks coming at them. When Ukitake landed, however, he fell even though he hadn't been hit by anything. He started coughing terribly. Kurayami, concerned, turned to him, and saw blood coming out of his mouth covered with his hand. She ran towards him and tried to help him, but Ukitake's cough kept getting worse and worse.

Hiroshima saw this as a perfect opportunity, and started a chant. "O Lord, Mask of blood and flesh..."

"STOP!" Kurayami cried out. "HE'S COUGHING BLOOD FOR GOODNESS' SAKE!"

Hiroshima didn't listen. "...all creation, flutter wings, you who bears..."

"I'M TELLING YOU TO STOP!" she cried out again. Then she turned to the teacher and the rest of the students and said, "SOMEBODY STOP HIM!"

But everyone was in shock or panic, and no one dared to even move. Hiroshima continued. "...the name of Man, Inferno and Pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, March on to the south! Hadou 31, Shakkahou."

Kurayami was able to block it. "Bakkudou 39, Enkosen."

There was a big explosion, and smoke covered the whole circle. When the smoke finally dissolved enough for everyone to see, Kurayami yelled again. "HE'S ALMOST DYING!"

Kyoraku was the first one to move. By the time he got to the circle, Ukitake was on the floor, unconscious, with blood stain on his hands and mouth. Kurayami was kneeling next to him, with her lap right under Ukitake's head. She seemed to be very calm, now that somebody had moved.

"Call the medics," she told Kyoraku. "Now."

"Alright"

Kyoraku ran to get the medics. Meanwhile, Kurayami was checking Ukitake's pulse very skillfully, as if she had done it a million times before. Then she put her hands on his chest and frowned at whatever she felt. She looked at Hiroshima, who was too shocked to even move a finger, and frowned even more at him.

The medics came fast, and they took Ukitake on a stretch. Kurayami stood up and said, "Take him to the Kurayami house. Either my Father or my Brother should be there."

Once the medics were gone, nobody dared to move. There was a strange tension, and after a few seconds, Kurayami moved out of the circle and left Hiroshima standing by himself. Another minute of silence passed before somebody spoke.

"So, since Ukitake can't go on and Kurayami stepped out, I win, right?" It was Hiroshima.

Kurayami snapped at him. "Is winning everything for you? Somebody was coughing blood and almost dying, and you attacked him with full power. You could have killed him, and you didn't even care about that."

"So if the enemy starts coughing blood, I just stop attacking him because he is sick and I should have some compassion? Don't joke with me," he replied with a frown.

"This is not a real fight!" Kurayami raised her voice again. "It's a stinking training! You know what trainings are for? It's to make us more able to fight in battle. That doesn't mean that everybody else here is an enemy of yours. We're supposed to help each other get stronger, not kill each other." Then, she calmed down and continued in a lower voice. "If you think that attacking a fellow student in a 'battle' because he's half dying and you saw that as a perfect opportunity makes you stronger, you're in the wrong place. Power and strength are very important in battle, I admit that. But if there is no team work, if there is no desire to protect anyone but oneself, if you only want to show off, power and strength are useless. That is basically what you aimed for, and that's going to make you the weakest."

After this, she stood up and followed the path that the medics took. When she had left, Hiroshima suddenly became outraged.

"Who does she think she is? Just because she lost to me, she's calling me a weakling. What? Team work? Desire to protect others? What kind of junk is that? Why should I care about others? I live to protect only myself, because if I don't, who will?"

At this, Kyoraku replied, "You know she's right, but you don't want to admit the fact that she saw right through you and exposed you, so you're trying to turn the table against her. It's not gonna work. She has every right in the world to be mad, and you have no right to be so angry because you were and are wrong in this case." Then he turned around and walked in the same direction as Kurayami. On his way, he stopped in front of the teacher.

"Did you not see what was happening?" he asked, sincerely wondering what he had asked.

"I did."

"Then why did you not stop him?" he questioned with a little resentment and sadness in his voice.

"I knew she would block it, and I wanted to see how you all reacted to this. I'm very proud of you and Kurayami, but I'm disappointed of everybody else."

Kyoraku didn't show any reaction of surprise nor resentment at the teacher's answer and just kept walking.


	2. 2: Kurayami Household

**Please leave comments/reviews :)**

 **There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

Kyoraku ran looking for the girl. He managed to catch Kurayami and saw she was crying. This surprised Kyoraku. Just a few moments ago, Kurayami had been a strong, mature girl who confronted a guy twice her size. Now, she looked like a little girl who was crying because she got lost. She looked helpless.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She sniffed a couple times and wiped her tears while nodding, telling him she was fine.

"You were really brave," he put his hand on her shoulder. "Any other girl I've seen would have freaked out and ran away, but you stayed calm and tried to help my friend. Thank you."

"He was coughing blood," she said in a low voice. "I've never seen anyone this young coughing so much blood after moving only that much."

"Yeah," he replied, looking at the floor. "I didn't know he's that weak."

"You knew he's sick?" she questioned.

"He told me he can't be out in the sun for too long nor move too much because he will faint. That's how much I knew."

Kurayami just stared at the sky, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to come out again.

"So where did they take him?" he finally broke the silence.

"Probably to my brother," she replied.

"You have a brother?" Kyoraku raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," she said while nodding. "Kurayami Hayato, head of the Kurayami Family, experts in medicine and healing."

"Oh!" exclaimed Kyoraku. "No wonder your family name sounded so familiar."

Kurayami smiled.

"That smile," Kyoraku said, "is beautiful. Try to put it on more often. It makes other people happy."

"Thank you," she said, looking away and blushing. "I'll try." She smiled, and he smiled back.

"Let's go see how he is," Kyoraku suggested.

"Yeah. Let's go."

They walked in silence to the Kurayami house to prevent from asking unnecessary questions. When they arrived, they were welcome by a group of servants both male and female.

"Welcome home, Ojou-sama," they all said at the same time, bowing down.

"Where's onii-chan?" Kurayami asked.

"Hayato-sama is in the Fifth room checking on a young white-haired man," replied one of the female servants.

"Fifth room?" exclaimed Kurayami. "Is the patient that bad?"

"Apparently so," said another servant, a male.

Kurayami just nodded at the servants. She turned to Kyoraku and led the way to the so-called Fifth room where Ukitake was. She saw the confused expression of Kyoraku's face and stopped to explain.

"Our house also works like a hospital. We divide the patients that come in five different rooms. The patients who are not so severely injured as to endanger their lives go to the First room, and those with the most serious cases go to the Fifth room. That's where Ukitake is. In the Fifth room."

When she finished saying this, she looked extremely concerned. Her frown made her look like the strong, mature girl she was back in her confrontation with Hiroshima. They kept walking and walking for a few minutes before they reached the Fifth room, and when they did arrive, they had to wait outside of the room until the medics came out with the results.

The skies were dark outside, and still no one came out. Kurayami had sat on the floor and fallen asleep while Kyoraku paced back and forth in front of her, without noticing she was sleeping. When he finally saw her sleeping, he sat next to her and put her head on his shoulder so that she could sleep better. Another couple hours passed before a tall man wearing a white gown came out. He had the same hair and eye colors as Kurayami.

"Haruna," the man called her.

Kurayami woke up and slowly lifted her head. When she saw the man, she jumped up and said, "Onii-chan! How is he?"

Kyoraku stood up when he heard her call the man "Onii-chan," and walked up closer to them to hear what the man was going to say.

"He's okay," the man replied, trying to calm his sister down. He his arms around her and hugged her. "Thank you for acting so quickly. He would have died otherwise."

"So what happened?" Kyoraku asked.

"Who are you? And why were you with my sister?" the man asked.

"Umm... My name is Kyoraku Shunsui, and well..." Kyoraku only managed to say this much, for the man was now staring at him, carefully examining him.

"Onii-chan," said Kurayami, while pulling him away from Kyoraku, "he's a friend of the patient. He came with me because he was worried about him."

"Oh!" exclaimed the brother in relief. "I'm Kurayami Hayato. Nice to meet you."

Kyoraku was surprised by how fast this man had changed his attitude towards him.

"So," said Kyoraku, "can I go in and see him?"

"Yes," Hayato replied. "In fact, I want the two of you," he pointed at his sister and Kyoraku, "to go in. He was looking for both of you."

Kyoraku and Kurayami looked at each other in amazement that the patient would be conscious enough to ask to see the two of them, especially Kurayami as they had never really talked before. After a moment of hesitation, Kyoraku and Kurayami went in to the room, where they saw one of the beds surrounded by men in white robes. Hayato came in behind Kyoraku and Kurayami and said to the other medics, "Clear the way. Let him see them."

All the medics moved and Kyoraku and Kurayami saw Ukitake in bed, covered with a white blankey. Ukitake had some wires on his lungs that helped him breathe, as Hayato said. His face was pale and wet with sweat, and he looked so much older now than when he was in the academy smiling. Despite all the pain he seemed to be going through, Ukitake smiled at his two friends who waited for him during his treatment.

"Thank you," he said to Kurayami, "and I'm sorry that I got both of you so worried."

"Don't worry about us," said Kyoraku. "Just focus on recovering."

"Yeah," added Kurayami, trying to hide her concern and sadness. "We're fine, so don't worry about us. How are you feeling?"

"I feel..." Ukitake searched for the right word to say, "funny."

"Huh?" exclaimed both Kyoraku and Kurayami.

"I haven't had a cough like this in years," explained Ukitake. "It feels funny and unreal, like it didn't really happen."

"That's a pain reliever that we gave you," said Hayato, now standing next to his sister. "It's a very strong medicine used only in the worst case scenarios, and if abused, it can kill you."

"Onii-chan, Father said not to use it," exclaimed Kurayami.

"Unless," he corrected her, "the situation is bad enough. I made sure to use as little of it as possible so that there are no withdrawals. Don't worry, Haruna." He turned to look at Ukitake again. "You're going to feel like you're dreaming, but you should feel normal again after a couple of hours. If not, call us and we'll check you again."

"Yes," said Ukitake. "Thank you, Kurayami-sensei."

"No problem," the medic answered. Then he turned to his sister, again. "Are you going to stay with him?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Alright then," he said. "Everybody else is dismissed. You may leave."

At these words, the rest of the medics left the room.

"I have to go see another patient in the Third room," Hayato told Kurayami. "Come find me if you need me, although I doubt it."

"Alright," she replied. "Good luck."

Hayato turned around and left the room, closing the door and leaving out any distur- bances from outside.

"Is it okay for all the medics to leave?" Kyoraku finally voiced the question that had been roaming around his head since Hayato had dismissed everyone else and then left himself.

"Kyoraku," said Ukitake. "From what the other medics have said, everybody in the Kurayami household is trained in medicine since they are very young. That includes her," he pointed at Kurayami.

"Haruna," she said. "Just call me Haruna. No need to hesitate on that."

"Are you sure?" Kyoraku said. "As far as I know, all three of us come from noble families. Aren't we supposed to 'respect' each other and call each other's surnames?"

"Are we really going to get there?" Haruna asked. "Let's just be friendly and call each other by the name. At least I will call both of you by your names and I want you guys to call me by my name. You can call each other whatever you want."

The two guys stared at each other in amazement by how easy she had become familiar with them.

"Alright, Haruna-chan," said Kyoraku first.

"Thank you, Haruna," said Ukitake.

She smiled at them. "That's more like it. Juushiro, Shunsui, let's get along well."

"Of course," said both.

"Shunsui," said Haruna, "it's rather late. Shouldn't you go home?"

"Oh my," said Kyoraku. "I didn't realize it was so late. Yeah, I should probably go. But I'll come back tomorrow after class."

"You don't have to, Kyoraku," said Ukitake, with a very weak voice.

"And you probably can't even come in to see him," said Haruna.

"But I'm here right now, and so are you."

"That's because Juushiro specifically asked to see you. As for me, I may not look like it, but I'm also a doctor here."

"Right," said Kyoraku. "I forgot you got trained too."

"Yeah," she told him and smiled at him, "so don't worry about him. I'll make sure he gets better."

"'Kay," Kyoraku said and left.

"You should go too, Haruna," said Ukitake. "You look tired."

"Look who's talking," was all she said. Then she brought a chair next to Ukitake's bed and sat down. "I told my brother I would stay here. That's why he dismissed the others."

"Thank you," Ukitake said and smiled at her.

"No need to thank me," she replied. "I'm also a doctor here in this household. It's kind of my job to take care of anyone sick." She looked at him for a couple minutes without saying anything. Then she said, "Get some sleep, you need it."


	3. 3: Rumors

**Please leave comments/reviews :)**

 **There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

For the next couple of weeks, neither Ukitake nor Kurayami showed up for classes, and everybody, particularly the girls, was worried. Hiroshima, as the teachers said, had been suspended for a week and then transferred to a different class. During the time of Hiroshima's suspension, countless rumors regarding Ukitake, Kurayami, and Hiroshima himself went around the academy.

"I heard Ukitake actually faked his cough, including the blood, to get Hiroshima out of this class, and Kurayami offered to help him."

"Aren't Ukitake and Kurayami from really wealthy families? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised since they were acting so highly in front of the others and they treated Hiroshima like trash."

"Actually, Ukitake is super wealthy, and Kurayami is part of one of the Four Noble families of Soul Society."

"I understand Ukitake missing class, but what about Kurayami? It's not like she's sick too!"

"Kurayami is probably just skipping class because she doesn't want to be here."

Those in the First class knew that none of it was true: they knew what had really happened, but no one said a word to stop these rumors. Except Kyoraku. Many people knew that he was close to Ukitake, so they would come to him and ask him about Ukitake. Then, naturally, they would start insulting Kurayami because of that one incident.

"Don't judge her if you don't know her," is what Kyoraku would tell them, in a very serious tone even after joking around with them. "She's doing her best to make Ukitake feel better. You can believe whatever you want, but don't come to me to insult my friend."

Thanks to Kyoraku, some of the rumors quieted down a little bit, but there were still some people who had negative thoughts about Ukitake and Kurayami. When Kurayami came back to class, those who weren't in the First class glared at her and stayed away from her, and those from the First class were afraid to get near her, as if they were ashamed of themselves.

"Thank you for your work," said the teacher when he saw Kurayami.

"Thank you," she replied and went to her seat, next to Kyoraku.

"How's Ukitake?" Kyoraku asked her in a whisper.

"He's okay," she answered in a whisper too. "I told him to stay home for a couple more days until his strength comes back completely."

"And he agreed?" Kyoraku raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. He knows he has to."

"Okay," said Kyoraku in relief. "Good. And I can go see him today, right?"

"Yeah," she said. "Unless his family decides you can't." She smiled.

"Quiet everyone," said the teacher. "We're starting now."

During the whole day of class, Kyoraku and Kurayami were together but didn't say much to each other. When classes were over for the day, Kyoraku approached Kurayami, who was about to leave.

"Do you wanna come with me?" he asked.

"To see Ukitake?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Sure," she replied. "I have to go anyways." She looked at him for a few seconds, as if trying to remember something. "Can we stop by my house? I need to get something before we go see him."

And with that, they both went to the Kurayami house.

"Welcome home, Ojou-sama," said the group of servants.

"I'm leaving again," she replied. "I just stopped by to get something from Onii-chan. Where is he?"

"In the Second room attending a Shinigami who suffered some injuries from hollows," replied one of the servants.

"Thank you."

When they got to the Second room, Kyoraku saw a row of at least ten beds on each side of the room, and every single bed was occupied by the Shinigami in bandages, mostly around the arms and legs. Nothing major. Hayato was tending a Shinigami with a big cut on her arm.

"Sheesh. I told you to be careful," said Hayato to the female Shinigami.

"What was I supposed to do?" she complained. "A hollow attacked my subordinates. I couldn't just stand there doing nothing!"

"Alright, alright," Hayato said. "Just be more careful next time, okay? I don't want you getting hurt too much." He smiled, and she blushed.

"Onii-chan," said Kurayami. She walked to the end of the room where her brother was and turned to the Shinigami. "Hi, Yumi-chan. That's a really deep cut. How did you get hurt?"

"This is no big deal," the Shinigami named Yumi answered. "I just got careless and it scratched me. That's all."

 _That_ _'_ _s not a scratch,_ thought Kyoraku to himself.

"That's not just a 'scratch,' you know?" said Hayato, shaking his head. "Anyways," he continued, looking at his sister. "You're going to—" he stopped talking suddenly. "Ohh, I didn't see you here," he said, while looking at Kyoraku, who was standing a few feet behind the trio. "Kyoraku Shunsui, right?"

Kyoraku nodded while walking towards them. "Thank you for treating Ukitake," he said and bowed his head.

"We're doctors. That's what we're supposed to do, so there's no need to say thanks," Hayato put a hand on Kyoraku's shoulder. "As I was saying," he turned to his sister. "You're going to Ukitake's, right?"

"Yeah," Kurayami answered. "I stopped by to take the medicine."

"That's on my desk, in my room."

"Thanks!" she said, turning around. "Let's go, Kyoraku." Then, addressing her brother, she said, "I'll be home later."

"Don't be too late!" Hayato told her before turning to Yumi again. "How does your arm feel?"

"It's..." Yumi struggled to find the words, "stiff, but it should be fine in a couple of days."

"Oi," he poked her forehead. "I'm the doctor here, and I don't think it's going to be fine in just a couple of days. It will take at least two weeks to heal enough for you to move it freely."

"What!?" she exclaimed. "I thought you healed it with your kido!"

"All the external damage is healed," he said calmly, "but your nerves were damaged. I can't really do anything about that. You'll just have to wait until your body naturally reconstructs your nerves."

"That's not fair!" Yumi complained.

"That's why I told you to be more careful, you idiot," he said, closing his eyes and gently hitting her head. "You can go home now, but don't push your arm too hard."

"I get it, I get it," she said, rubbing her head where Hayato had hit her. "By the way, who was that guy that came with your sister? And who's Ukitake?"

"Both are Haruna's classmates, same age as her," Hayato replied. "The one that came with her today is Kyoraku Shunsui, good friend of Ukitake. And Ukitake was in the Fifth room for a week and then another week in the Third room for recuperation. He went home yesterday."

"Did they have a big accident in the Academy?" Yumi asked. "Why was a student in the Fifth room?"

"In the Academy," he explained, "they had a training session in which three students stood inside a circle and fought against each other with kido until only one was standing in the circle. My sister and Ukitake were called up in the same group with another guy, and after moving a little bit, Ukitake started coughing blood. That's what Haruna told me."

"After moving only a little bit?" she wondered. "That shouldn't have been a problem at all. Not at his age."

"His health," Hayato replied, "is in a really bad condition. To put it simple, he coughs so much that his throat is ripped, and therefore he coughs blood."

"But," Yumi said with a trembling voice and teary eyes, "he's so young."

"I know," Hayato looked down. "And we couldn't find the cause of the cough."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," he thought of a simple way to explain it. "We only found his throat damaged, but we didn't see anything that could cause such a harsh cough."

"Didn't he stay for two weeks?"

"Yes," he hesitated a bit before continuing. "But we need to do an extensive study of his body to find out exactly what's wrong."

"And what about Haruna? She couldn't find anything either?"

"No," he said shaking his head. "We had her stay here for the two weeks to take care of him as well as do some examinations, but she didn't find anything that we didn't already know."

"That's..." Yumi couldn't say anything else.

"He himself said he was okay, since his coughs had stopped for a few days, so we sent him home."

"Are you sure it's okay to just send him home?"

"I'm not entirely sure that it was a good idea," he replied with a little concern in his voice, "but Haruna also insisted on sending him home. She said she'll be responsible for him, since they'll see each other in the Academy and everything."

"She's so responsible even at a young age, huh," she said, smiling proudly, "unlike her brother." She winked.

"Hey," he gently hit her head again. "I'm not like that anymore. Not since Haruna was born." They both laughed.

"Do you think they'll be okay?" she had a more serious expression now.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said with concern. "This Ukitake guy... He's young yet so ill, and Kyoraku is his friend right? And also, Haruna seems to feel responsible and even guilty about this."

"You know Haruna," he replied with a gentle voice and facial expression. "She won't let such feelings as guild get on her way. She's strong. And from what little I've seen of the other two, I think they will go through this and become stronger and more mature."

"I hope you're right."

"They'll be fine, so don't worry about them too much," he comforted her. "Actually, you're in no position to worry about others." He pointed at her arm. "Worry about resting your arm so that it heals."

"Yessir," said Yumi with a teasing tone of voice.


	4. 4: Better

**There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

"And who might you youngsters be?" asked an elderly man when Kyoraku and Kurayami arrived at Ukitake's.

"Kurayami Haruna and Kyoraku Shunsui," replied Kurayami.

"Oh," said the elderly man. "You are Juushiro's friends from the Academy, am I right?"

"Yes," Kyoraku replied politely.

"Are you here to see him?" the elderly man inquired.

"Yes," Kurayami said, "and there's some medicine I have to give him as well."

"You may come in. Go straight down this hallway and the first room to the left is Juushiro's room. Take as long as you need."

"Thank you," both of them said and bowed their heads.

They found Ukitake's room and knocked the door. Kurayami and Kyoraku heard a weak voice say, "Who is it?"

"Haruna and Shunsui," said Kurayami.

"Oh," said the voice more cheerfully. "Come in."

Kyoraku opened the door for the two of them to enter and found Ukitake laying down.

"Yo, Ukitake," said Kyoraku. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, thanks," replied Ukitake while trying to sit. Kurayami hurried next to him and helped him get up.

"Don't push yourself too much," she told him.

"I'm okay," Ukitake said with a smile. He turned to look at Kyoraku, and Kyoraku went in and sat next to the other two.

"So," said Kyoraku to break the silence, "how long until you get well enough to go to the Academy?"

"Well," Ukitake replied, looking at Kurayami, "they told me until I could breathe without any difficulties while walking."

"Which could take a couple more weeks," said Kurayami. "Here's the medicine. Sorry we didn't have it yesterday. We've never had anyone need it."

"Thanks," said Ukitake.

For the next few minutes, nobody said anything. Kyoraku just looked around Ukitake's room, while Kurayami stared at the floor thinking about something unknown to the other two. Finally, after much hesitation, Kurayami spoke.

"Juushiro," she said, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Ukitake replied.

"It might be a little personal," she looked at Kyoraku.

"It's okay," Ukitake said. "There's nothing I want to hide from either of you that you might want to know."

Kurayami seemed to hesitate a lot.

"It's okay," Ukitake reassured her. "I'll answer honestly, since it's probably about my health."

"It is," she said. "My question is..." she thought of the "right" words to say, "what's wrong with your lungs?"

This surprised Kyoraku.

"I mean," she continued, "my brother said there was nothing wrong with them, but I know there IS something. Back in the academy, right after you fainted, I checked your lungs for a sign of anything being caught or something, but I felt nothing. Even if there had been nothing caught, which by the way there wasn't, there should have been some kind of rough feeling coming from your lungs after coughing so much. But I couldn't feel anything. You can't have a cough as bad as the one you had without any harsh breathing afterwards, and I should have been able to sense it in your lungs."

Kyoraku and Kurayami looked at Ukitake with an intense curiosity and concern.

"You're right, Haruna," Ukitake said. "I guess you could say there is something wrong with my lungs." He looked around as if he was making sure there was no one else listening. "This is a rather long story, so get comfortable."

Kyoraku and Kurayami looked at each other and then at Ukitake, waiting for him to start talking again.

"You see, I've been sick since I was really young. I can't even remember when I wasn't sick. When I was three, I developed a lung disease, and all of the doctors lost hope. They told my parents I could not be cured, and that I would die pretty soon. At that time, the disease, whatever it is that I have, turned my hair white. I guess that explains why I have white hair and black eyebrows. Anyways, my parents were very superstitious people, and they took me to a shrine in the 78th District of East Rukongai. It was the shrine of Mimihagi-sama, the right arm of the Soul King and a fallen god. My parents prayed to him that I would be saved. It kind of worked since, as you can see, I am still alive, but it didn't entirely cure my disease. Mimihagi-sama took my lungs, and in their place, he himself came in. He is the one giving me life right now, but some of the symptoms of the disease stayed with me. That's why I still cough blood sometimes."

The three of them stayed in silence. Kyoraku and Kurayami were trying to process all that they had heard, and Ukitake was waiting for them to do so.

"So," Kyoraku broke the silence, "what you're saying is that you don't have lungs at all?"

Ukitake nodded.

"No wonder I didn't feel anything from your lungs..." said Kurayami.

"It makes sense since he doesn't have them," said Kyoraku.

"Yeah," said Ukitake.

There was silence for another minute.

"I guess you just have to be careful not to move too much," Kyoraku said looking at Ukitake. Then he turned to Kurayami and playfully said, "Right, Doctor?"

"Yeap," Kurayami replied, "but it shouldn't be a big problem. That medicine I brought will basically coat the inside of your throat. You won't cough as much, and as long as you don't overexert yourself, you won't cough blood at all." She handed the medicine to Ukitake and continued talking. "Remember to drink one cup of the medicine per day. If you drink less than that or less often than that, the medicine will have no effect, but if you drink too much or too often, there will be some bad side effects you don't really want to know about. So be careful."

"I will," replied Ukitake. "Thanks."

"Oh," she said remembering something. "Don't stay in heat nor cold for too long either. It will affect you."

"Thank you," Ukitake said again.

"You need to stop saying 'thanks' to everything," Kurayami said looking away and blushing.

Kyoraku and Ukitake looked at each other and just smiled.

"So how were the classes?" Ukitake asked after a long time of silence.

"Boring as usual," said Kyoraku. "There's nothing really new, except the fact that Hiroshima was transferred to the Second class."

"Oh?" said Kurayami. "And here I thought he was still suspended..."

"Nope," said Kyoraku. "He was suspended for a week only, and then they transferred him."

"I feel bad for him," said Ukitake. "It's not like he actually did something wrong." He shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?!" exclaimed Kurayami, in anger. "If that kidou had hit you, you would have been seriously injured!"

"But it didn't hit me," Ukitake replied with a voice full of compassion for Hiroshima.

"Well," said Kyoraku before Kurayami could say anything, "that wasn't the only reason why he got transferred."

"Huh?" the other two expressed their confusion.

"Sensei told me himself that there Hiroshima's grades were not good enough to come to the First class, but they were too good to go into the Second class. Because of his trouble-making personality, the elders were going to put him in the Second class, but he made a proposal and promised that he would do his best in the First class. The elders accepted this proposal with the condition that he would be transferred to the Second class if he caused any trouble or was deemed unworthy of being in the First Class."

"Still," said Ukitake, "we were in a battle training, and he saw an opening. I don't think that's considered as causing trouble."

"But—" Kurayami was interrupted by Kyoraku.

"And you're absolutely right, Ukitake," he said, looking at Kurayami straight in the eyes to calm her down. "That's not the reason he was transferred." Kyoraku stopped talking for a few seconds to let the other two think of any other possible reason. When both stopped thinking and looked at Kyoraku, the latter continued speaking. "On that day, after both of you left, Hiroshima said some pretty nasty things, basically disrespecting you, Haruna. That behaviour was seen as a behaviour unworthy of the First class. That's why he got transferred."

"But what exactly did he say to get him transferred?" Ukitake asked.

"That teamwork is useless, and that Haruna was just jealous because she lost to him," Kyoraku replied, glancing towards Kurayami to see her reaction.

Kurayami suddenly started laughing. "Is that seriously what he said?" she managed to say in between her laugh.

Kyoraku and Ukitake just stared at her in confusion.

"Sorry," she said, composing herself. "I just thought it was kinda funny."

"I guess it kinda is," said Kyoraku with a smile.

"Yeah," said Ukitake, also smiling. "After all, he got transferred but you didn't."

For the next hour or so, the three of them talked about what Kyoraku had done in class, what the other two had missed, and what was going on around the Academy.

"There were strange rumors of both of you going around," Kyoraku mentioned during this time.

"Like what?" inquired Ukitake with curiosity.

"Like you not being sick," Kyoraku said looking at Ukitake. Then he turned to Kurayami, "and the both of you faking everything to defame Hiroshima. Stuff like that. They were also wondering why you weren't going to classes, Haruna."

"Ohh," Kurayami said. "Well, it couldn't be helped."

"Yeah," said Ukitake. "It really couldn't be helped." He looked at Kurayami and smiled a grateful smile.

"You guys aren't mad?" Kyoraku asked rather impressed by the reaction of his two friends.

"Why would we be mad?" replied Kurayami.

"There's no reason for us to be mad," Ukitake agreed with Kurayami. Then, smiling at a confused Kyoraku, Ukitake added, "It's not like those rumors are true, so as long as we remain calm about it and explain how things really are, the rumors will die eventually."

"He's right," Kurayami said, also smiling at Kyoraku.

Kyoraku smiled and said, "I really didn't have to worry after all." The three of them laughed.

"It's getting pretty late," Ukitake said. "The sun is setting already. You guys should head home."

"Yeah," said Kyoraku, stanging up, "that might be a good idea."

"We'll come back tomorrow," Kurayami told Ukitake, and then she stood up too.

"Actually," Ukitake said. "I'm going to the Academy again starting tomorrow."

"What?!" both Kyoraku and Kurayami said in surprise.

"I told you it will take at least two weeks for you to get well enough to go back outside and move!" Kurayami said.

"You really shouldn't go," Kyoraku said.

"I know," Ukitake said, lowering his head, "but I really am feeling a lot better, and I don't feel comfortable when I'm in bed doing nothing."

Ukitake and Kyoraku looked at Kurayami, who was now deep in thought.

"I guess that's okay," she said tentatively, "since we already made you miss two weeks of class." She looked at Ukitake in the eyes. "But I'll be watching over you carefully, so that you don't faint or anything. You're okay with that, right?"

"Yeah," Ukitake said. "As long as I can go back to the Academy."

"I guess there's no helping it then," Kyoraku said. "Haruna, I'll go pick you up and then we can come together here."

"It's okay," Kurayami said. "We'll just meet here in the morning."

"Alright," Kyoraku and Ukitake gave their consent.


	5. 5: Apology

**There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

* * *

The next morning, Kurayami and Kyoraku greeted each other outside of the Ukitake house, where Ukitake was already waiting along with a servant.

"You should have just waited inside, Juushiro," Kurayami said.

"Good morning," said Kyoraku.

"Good morning to both of you," Ukitake replied. Then he turned to his servant. "You can go inside now. Thank you."

The servant bowed and went inside.

The three of them walked to the Academy talking about how nice the weather was that morning, and Kyoraku joked about going on a date with Kurayami.

"Don't even think about it, Shunsui," Kurayami told him.

"Wait," Kyoraku complained, "but why~? It's not like it's a bad thing to go on dates! There will be no compromises, so let's go and have fun~"

"Shunsui..." Kurayami's voice was low. "I said NO!" she yelled. Then she hit Kyoraku's head really hard and quickly walked away. He fell to the ground, and Ukitake crouched next to him to help him. "You two," she said without turning around, "if you don't hurry up, I'll leave you behind!"

"We're going," said Ukitake while hekping Kyoraku get up.

"Man," Kyoraku said rubbing his head, "she's really strong."

"I don't know how you didn't expect that," Ukitake said. "Let's hurry up, or she'll really leave us behind."

"Yeah."

When the three arrived at the Academy, every eye was on them. In the entrance, on the hallways, and even in the classroom, everybody was looking at them and talking about them in whispers.

"See how well that guy Ukitake looks?"

"There's no way he could have recovered from something that bad in only two weeks."

"Why are the three of them always together?"

In the classroom for the First class, all of the other students kept their eyes low. Then one person approached the trio and apologized to Ukitake.

"I'm sorry," he said, "for not helping you that day. I was really scared and I didn't know what to do."

At this guy's words of apology, everyone else came together in a circle around the three and all of them apologized.

"I'm sorry I was such a coward."

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything."

"I was really scared you might have died."

"I couldn't move because I thought I would do something to make the situation worse."

"There was nothing I could do."

"I'm ashamed of myself."

Kyoraku, Kurayami, and Ukitake couldn't help but be surprised at the sudden expression of apology from everyone.

"It's.. Okay," said Ukitake smiling. "It's not your fault, everyone, so stop apologizing. As you can see, I am fine now."

At his words, everyone smiled. They started talking with Kyoraku and Ukitake, making jokes and laughing. When Ukitake looked for Kurayami, she wasn't next to him and Kyoraku, as she had been when the others started apologizing. Instead, she was in a corner, looking at everyone else and smiling. Ukitake was about to stand up and talk to Kurayami when the teacher came in.

"Everyone sit down," he said.

"Yes, sir," the students replied in one voice and sat in their places.

The class ended, and everyone was dismissed for lunch. Kurayami went out before Kyoraku and Ukitake, who were caught up in a conversation with some other students. She was walking in the hallway, deep in her own thoughts, when she bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she said. "I wasn't paying—" she stopped when she saw the face of the other person.

"Yo, Kurayami," the other person said. "Long time no see, huh."

"Hiroshima Aoi," she said with a little resentment.

"So cold," Hiroshima said in a sarcastic tone. "Aren't we pretty close 'friends'?"

"Get away from me," she said and started walking away, but he grabbed her arm.

"Oi," he said in a slightly angry voice. "Where do you think you're going? You're the one that bumped into me."

"Yeah," she replied. "And I apologized already, so let go of me." Then she pulled her arm away from his hands. She turned and walked away. Hiroshima ran in front of her and stopped her a second time.

"What?!" he was really angry now. "You're acting so highly just because I got transferred to a lower class? You think I'm not worth your time because I'm in the Second class and you're in the First?"

Now everyone gathered around them because they were curious of what was happening.

"If you hadn't talked so arrogantly back in that training session, I would be the top of the top class!" Hiroshima continued his rant. "I still can't believe that I, of all people, should be in the Second class while YOU are still in the First class. That;s UNBELIEVABLE!"

Ukitake and Kyoraku came to the hallway where Kurayami and Hiroshima were because they had seen everyone else rush to get there. They pushed through the thick crowd and found Kurayami and Hiroshima standing in the middle.

"Hey!" Ukitake said first. "Let go of her!"

The two friends rushed to Kurayami's side and helped her get out of Hiroshima's grip.

"Ah," Hiroshima said, annoyed, "you two again." He rolled his eyes and started ranting again. "If neither of you had been there, SHE," he pointed at Kurayami, "would have made a fool out of herself. But no! You HAD to 'come to her rescue' because she's a little girl who can't do anything by herself!"

"Hiroshima," Kyoraku said in a calm voice. "You're making a fool out of yourself right now. Look," he pointed at the huge crowd that had gathered around them, "everyone is watching you rant like a little boy."

"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY RIGHT TO CALL ME A LITTLE BOY!" Hiroshima yelled and came at Kyoraku with a fist intended to hit the latter student. Then, the First class's kido teacher appeared in front of Hiroshima and grabbed his arm.

"That's enough, Hiroshima," the teacher said. "You're coming with me." He turned to the crowd. "Everyone, mind your own business and go eat." Then he turned to the other three involved in the incident. "You three too," he smiled. "Go eat."

"Thank you, Sensei," said Ukitake, and the three of them bowed their heads before turning around.

"Seriously," Kyoraku said once the three of them were out in the garden. "What's wrong with him?"

"Who knows," Ukitake said and smiled.

"Whatever," Kurayami said. "It's not really worth thinking about it." Despite her words, her voice sounded rather annoyed, and the other two didn't fail to notice it, but they decided to stay quiet about it for now.

"Look," Kyoraku said to change the subject. "There's a big tree over there. We should go there for some shade, or Ukitake will faint again." The three of them laughed and walked to the tree. They sat and ate, talking about how boring the class had been, and how they could not wait to graduate.

"But," Ukitake said, "once we graduate, we'll become Shinigami, and we will have to fight..."

They stayed silent for the rest of lunch time, they ate in silence, thinking about what Ukitake had said. The three of them had very similar thoughts. _I don_ _'_ _t want to fight...Am I scared of getting hurt? No. Am I scared of dying? No. Am I scared of killing evil? No. I just want peace._

The rest of the day went by rather slowly. They had another kido training session, this time training for aim. They had to aim at a stationary target and then at a moving dummy. For Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Kurayami, these two were easy tasks, and they were able to complete them at their first try, but it took everyone else at least five tries in each exercise to get them done. As a result, once they were done, the three of them had to wait until everyone else was done. Because the teacher saw that they were doing nothing, he told Kyoraku and Kurayami to run around the garden until everyone was done and Ukitake to read some of the things he had missed during the two weeks.

For the next couple of weeks, everything was the same. Kyoraku and Kurayami would meet at Ukitake's house and the three of them would go to the Academy together. In the Academy, they would attend the classes and complete all of the task with great ease, and then do whatever other exercise the teachers would tell them to do.

One day, after the kido training session, Kurayami went to wash the sweat off of her face. When she was done, two other girls approached her.

"Umm, Kurayami-san?" one of them said.

Kurayami looked at them and noticed they were both acting really shy about something and even blushing out of embarrassment. "Do you need something?" she asked them kindly.

"Well," the other one said in a quiet voice, "we were just wondering—Ah!" she suddenly stopped mid-sentence. "We forgot to introduce ourselves!" She bowed her head. "My name is Kinoshita Ayame, from the Third class."

"And my name is Maruyama Saki," the first one said.

Kurayami took a more careful look at them. Kinoshita had short black hair styled with a flower-shaped hairpin on the left side, and her eyes were dark brown. Maruyama had longer black hair, which was let hanging loose right above her waist, and her eyes were a lighter brown. Both had a rather slim figure and were taller than Kurayami.

"Nice to meet you," Kurayami said smiling. "I guess I don't need to introduce myself since you already seem to know me."

"You are pretty famous after all, Kurayami-san," Maruyama said shyly.

"Thank you, I guess," Kurayami said. "So what was it that you were wondering?"

"Oh!" Maruyama exclaimed. Then she looked at her friend.

"Umm, Kurayami-san," Kinoshita started saying, "well... Umm.. Are you... By any chance.. Umm... Close to Ukitake-san and Kyoraku-san?" At the mention of these two names, both girls turned completely red.

"Huh?" Kurayami expressed her confusion. "Is that all you were wondering?"

"No," Maruyama replied in an embarrassed tone of voice. "There are rumors that the three of you are really close, so we were wondering if... You..."

"You want me to introduce you to them?" Kurayami straightforwardly said. At this statements, the other two girls turned a brighter red, which Kurayami thought was impossible.

"If it's..." Maruyama and Kinoshita mumbled in shyness.

Kurayami laughed. "It's no problem! I'll introduce you guys tomorrow during lunch time! Just make sure to find us. We're usually under the big tree in the middle of the garden, so you will most likely find us there." She saw one of the other First class students wave at her to come, so she left saying, "See you tomorrow!"

When Kurayami arrived at the classroom, she saw Kyoraku and Ukitake sitting at the back and waving at her. They pointed at an empty seat that was between them, motioning her to sit with them.

"Thanks!" she said as she sat down. "I would have hat to sit in the front if you hadn't reserved my seat."

"Yeah, no problem," Kyoraku said.

"Why did you take so long?" Ukitake asked her.

Kurayami sighed. Just when she was going to answer, the teacher came in and started the class.

After the classes were over, the three walked to the Ukitake house and spent a couple of hours together. As Kyoraku and Kurayami were about to leave, Ukitake remembered something.

"Haruna," he called her.

"Yeah?" she said, curious of what this white-haired friend of hers had to tell her.

"You didn't answer me back in the Academy," Ukitake said with some concern.

"Oh," Kurayami said, "it was nothing big. You'll see tomorrow." She smiled and left after saying goodbye.

Kyoraku remained a little longer, and looking at Ukitake's worried face, he said, "Don't worry. If she said it was nothing big, then it really wasn't anything big, so there's no need to worry."

"Yeah," Ukitake said, a little bit more relieved. "Thanks."


	6. 6: Cute

**There might be some spoilers if you haven't read the manga.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

* * *

The next day came, and Kurayami and Kyoraku met again in front of Ukitake's house. Before Ukitake came out, the two of them talked a little bit.

"Ukitake was really worried about you yesterday, you know?" Kyoraku mentioned.

"Really?" Kurayami said. She seemed really surprised.

"Yeah," he replied. "Wasn't it the first time you were that late to a class?"

"Ohh," she said. After a few seconds of silence, she said, "Wait... How would he notice? And how do you know?"

"Well," Kyoraku replied, "your hair is quite unique. There's no way anyone wouldn't notice you."

"Stop playing around," Kurayami said and hit his head just as Ukitake came out. He saw Kyoraku on the floor with his hands on his head, and then he looked at Kurayami in confusion.

"Hurry up and let's go!" Kurayami said, turned around and walked away irritated.

"Huh?" Ukitake said. Then he looked at Kyoraku and said, "What's wrong with her?"

"Hehe," Kyoraku just laughed and said, "nothing really. I just teased her a little bit and she got mad, although I wasn't really joking..."

Ukitake looked more confused. After a few seconds, he said, "Let's go, or she'll get mad at us for being late."

"You're right."

When the two young men caught up to Kurayami, she seemed to have calmed down.

"What took you so long?" she asked them.

"You can't blame me!" Kyoraku said playfully. "It really hurt my head, you know? You're really strong."

Ukitake laughed at him, and soon the three were laughing together.

"About why I was late to class yesterday," Kurayami said. "Some girls talked to me to ask me a favor."

"Oh, I see," Ukitake said, relieved. "It really was nothing big."

"Yeah," Kurayami said, "nothing to worry about." She walked up slightly ahead of the other two.

Kyoraku and Ukitake looked at each other and smiled in relief. Then they followed right behind her.

They went through the first few classes in the usual way: the three excelled in almost everything, and the teachers always had to tell them to do something else to keep them occupied. Finally, it was lunch time. Kurayami, Kyoraku, and Ukitake went to their usual spot, under the tree in the middle of the garden. They had just started eating when two girls, unfamiliar to Kyoraku and Ukitake, approached them.

Kurayami smiled at the two girls. Then she turned to Kyoraku and Ukitake and said, "Juushiro, Shunsui, do you guys mind if they eat with us?"

Ukitake and Kyoraku looked at each other in confusion, and then shook their heads. At this, Kurayami waved at the two girls and motioned them to sit with them.

"So," Kyoraku said as soon as the two girls sat down. "What are your names?"

"Maruyama Saki, from the Third class," said the one with long hair very shyly.

"Kinoshita Ayame, also from the Third class," said the one with short hair, also shyly. Both girls were blushing.

"Those are really pretty names," Kyoraku said. The two girls blushed, Kurayami rolled her eyes, and Ukitake just awkwardly laughed.

"I'm Ukitake Juushiro," Ukitake said warmly.

"And I'm Kyoraku Shunsui," Kyoraku said with a sweet, flirty voice. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you," the two girls said.

Lunch time was the same for Kurayami, Ukitake, ad Kyoraku. The three joked around and laughed while eating their lunch. The only difference was that there were two other girls with them. These two girls were so quiet that the other three hardly noticed when they had finished eating. The only sounds they made were giggles whenever someone said something funny, and they were blushing the whole time, especially when Kyoraku or Ukitake talked to them.

Lunch time was over, and they said their goodbyes to go to their next classes.

"Umm," Kinoshita and Maruyama mumbled as they stood up.

"Hmm?" Ukitake said smiling. "Is there anything you want to say?"

"Umm," Kinoshita said, "if it's okay... Can we eat lunch together tomorrow too?"

Kyoraku patted Kinoshita's head and said, "Of course!" She blushed.

"Really?" Maruyama said, excited.

"Yeah," Ukitake replied. "I don't see why not." He smiled.

The two girls, with their faces completely red, got really excited and thanked the two guys. "See you tomorrow!" they said as they waved their hands and walked away.

On their way, Ukitake, Kyoraku, and Kurayami were talking about the two girls who had had lunch with them.

"Were those the girls that talked to you yesterday?" Ukitake asked.

"Yeah," Kurayami replied. "They asked me if I could introduced them to you because they wanted to meet you so badly. It seems the two of you are pretty popular."

"Really?" Ukitake said in surprise.

"Have you not noticed?" Kurayami said. "Most of the girls are all over both of you. They're always staring and blushing and everything."

"Huh?" Ukitake said, looking around. He noticed that the girls were staring at him and Kyoraku, and whenever he made eye contact with one of them, they would all blush and look away timidly.

"Also, you guys are way too nice to the girls," Kurayami said as if scolding them.

"What?" Ukitake and Kyoraku exclaimed.

"With the way you guys act with other girls, there's no way you won't be popular."

"What do you mean?" Ukitake said and bumped into a girl. "Are you okay?" he asked with a very gentle smile and a warm voice.

"Ye-yes!" the girl said and rushed away blushing.

"That's what I'm talking about," Kurayami said shaking her head. "You're always smiling at them so warmly that they misunderstand."

"Yeah, Ukitake," Kyoraku said, standing next to Kurayami.

"And you're no better, Shunsui!" she said. "You're always complimenting the girls so openly!"

"But I really mean what I tell them!" Kyoraku complained.

"Seriously," Kurayami said. "You guys will get in some deep trouble later on."

"It's okay, it's okay," Kyoraku said lightly.

"And you'll also get ME in so many troublesome situations, like what happened yesterday and today."

"You think more cute girls will ask you to introduce us to them?" Kyoraku asked her.

Kurayami sighed and walked up ahead.

"You think all girls are cute," Ukitake said and laughed.

"That's true," Kyoraku said. Then he walked up to Kurayami, who was now walking ahead of the two. Then he put an arm around her and said, "But I think she's the cutest of all."

Kurayami slapped his head. "Quit it," she said and laughed.

"Take it easy, Haruna-chan," Kyoraku said playfully. "You don't have to hit me so hard!"

"And since when do you call me 'Haruna-chan'? Just Haruna is okay."

"But it sounds cuter this way, doesn't it, Haruna-chan?"

"Whatever," Kurayami said. Then she walked up ahead, again.

"She must love walking in front of others," Kyoraku told Ukitake.

"Or she just gets away from people whenever she's frustrated, embarrassed, or anything else that would want her to be away from others," Ukitake noted.

"You're probably right," Kyoraku said and smiled.

In the middle of their after-lunch class, the founder of the Shinigami Academy and Captain-commander of the newly founded Gotei 13, Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, came in to the room. All of the students stood up and bowed in respect.

"Yamamoto-sama, do you need anything?" the teacher asked in deep respect.

"Yes," Yamamoto said, "I would like Kyoraku Shunsui, Ukitake Juushiro, and Kurayami Haruna to come with me."

The three of them looked at each other in confusion and walked to where Yamamoto was. They bowed their heads in respect until they were told to lift up their heads. Then they were led out of the classroom by Yamamoto himself. Kurayami, Kyoraku, and Ukitake were confused and curious as to what Yamamoto would want with three normal students of the First class, but they dared not say a word while they were walking behind the grand figure.

They arrived at an isolated room in the corner of the building. Yamamoto opened the door and told the three students to go in after going in himself.

When the three students were in the middle of the room, Yamamoto looked at them and said, "I would like to personally instruct and train the three of you."

The three looked at each other in a mix of surprise and confusion.

"I have been observing the performance of all the students in the First class and you three have shown a great potential since that incident in the kido training session. I have noticed that the three of you have such an easy time doing all the activities even in the First class, which is supposed to be the most elite class. Even though you three are still young, you have shown signs of great power which still needs to be nourished. I will be in charge of nourishing that power from now on."

The three students were awestruck, unable to say a word in response.

"I will talk to all of your teachers about this, so starting tomorrow, you will be training here in this room. You are dismissed for today."

They bowed their heads and left the room.

They walked out of the room and through the hallways in silence, both for the other classes that were still going on and for time to think about what just had happened. They didn't say a word until they were out of the Academy.

"That..." Ukitake said. "I don't know what to say about this."

"Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni..." Kyoraku muttered. Then in a louder voice, he said, "He is among the strongest Shinigami that live today, and he offered to train us. That's crazy."

"I guess we have to do our best not to disappoint him," Ukitake said.

"Of course," Kyoraku replied. "But I wonder if we really show great potentials."

"He is also known as a very wise man, so he wouldn't have said so unless he didn't truly think so," Ukitake said.

"I guess you're right," Kyoraku said. "I mean, it's pretty great that he would choose to take the time and personally train us instead of having others do that job."

"Yeah," Ukitake said, still a little bit awestruck. "Let's not disappoint him."

The two of them then realized that Kurayami had been quiet the whole time. They looked at her, and she seemed to be deep in thought.

"Haruna?" Ukitake called her. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Kurayami said, still a little spaced out.

"Are you okay?" Ukitake repeated.

"Yeah," she replied. "I just..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

"Can't believe what happened?" Kyoraku asked.

"No... It's not that," Kurayami replied. "I mean, of course I can't believe it. Who would have thought that the founder of the Academy and one of the strongest Shinigami would offer to personally train me? But I'm really wondering... Are we... Am I really worth going through the trouble? What if he misjudged me and I'm not really strong?"

"None of us are strong, Haruna," Ukitake said, "but everyone has the ability to get stronger. If that's not nourished correctly, the power and strength will remain hidden forever. I think he realized that in the three of us and chose to help us. I know we will get stronger."

"But," Kurayami said with an insecure voice, "what if I can't?"

"We'll get stronger together," Kyoraku reassured her. "Remember what you told Hiroshima? Teamwork is really important. As long as the three of us are together, I'm sure we'll all get strong."

Kyoraku and Ukitake smiled, and Kurayami smiled back.

"Thanks."


	7. 7: Confusion

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

* * *

Haruna got home earlier than usual that day, and her brother was surprised to see her alone. He walked up to her and saw that she had a troubled face.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Mmmm..." she couldn't find the words to say.

"Did something happen today at the Academy? You're home early, and you're alone too. That's not usual."

"Yeah..." she finally managed to say. "Something really weird happened today."

"Did you have a fight with Kyoraku and Ukitake?"

"No," she said with a half smile. "That's not what happened."

"Then?"

"Well..." she hesitated a bit. "Today, after lunch, Captain-commander Yamamoto came to our class, and called me, Shunsui, and Juushiro. Then he told us he's going to personally train us." She waited for her brother's reaction.

"Huh?" he tilted his head. "So... You three are going to be his personal students?"

"It seems so."

"THAT'S GREAT!" he exclaimed and gave her a tight hug. "He must have seen great potential in the three of you if he decided to train you personally. You'll do great, Haruna. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks," she said.

"What's wrong? You don't seem very excited."

"Yeah," she replied, looking at the floor. "I have my doubts."

"Doubts?"

"Yeah. Like... Will I be able to meet his expectations? And what if I'm not really that strong? Shunsui and Juushiro said they'll stick with me, and that we'll get strong together, but what if I'm pulling them behind? I don't know if I can do this." She was about to cry.

Hayato hugged her and patter her head. "It's okay, Haruna. I know you can do it. You're strong, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. The Captain-commander chose you to instruct personally. That's a proof of your strength. And your friends have faith in you, so have faith in them too, and depend on them to help you get stronger. You can do it."

"Thank you," she said and hugged him back.

"That aside," he said once his little sister had calmed down, "it must be great that the three of you didn't get separated. You seem to be really fond of them."

"Huh?" she said blushing. "I guess so..."

He laughed. "You've changed a lot after you met them, Haruna."

"Really?"

"Yeah, no doubt. You're more... Outgoing. Yes, that's the word."

"I never noticed..." she stared at the floor.

"It's okay," he patted her head and disheveled her hair. "It's a good change, and I'm proud of you."

She blushed and smiled. "Thanks, Onii-chan!"

"No problem," he smiled back. "I'm sure Mother and Father feel the same way."

"Yeah," she said with a gloomy smile.

"Oh yeah," he suddenly remembered something. "Remember to take the day off next week."

"I know."

A servant came close to them and bowed down on one knee. "Ojou-san," he addressed Haruna. "There are two young men who want to see you. They are wearing the Academy uniform. One of them has white hair, and the other one has black curly hair."

Haruna and Hayato looked at each other.

"Tell them to come in and lead them here," Haruna said.

"Yes," the servant said as he stood up and left the room. Soon the servant came back with Kyoraku and Ukitake.

"Yo, Haruna," Kyoraku said.

"I thought you guys went home," Haruna said smiling.

"We were going to," Ukitake said, "but we thought we would just..." Ukitake didn't finish his sentence.

"Are you okay?" Haruna asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Just feeling a little faint."

"Seriously," Haruna said. "If you're feeling faint, you should have gone home."

"But," he started to say.

"I know," Haruna said with a sigh. "Both of you were probably worried about me, am I right?"

"Hah," Kyoraku laughed. "She saw right through us, Ukitake."

"Yeah," Ukitake said, now with one hand over his head.

"Midokawa-san," Haruna addressed the servant that had brought the two young men in. "Could you bring a chair for him, please?"

"Yes," the servant said and left the room. In a couple minutes, the servant came back with a chair and placed it behind Ukitake.

"Thank you," he said politely and sat down.

"I'm sorry," Haruna said.

"Huh?" Ukitake and Kyoraku seemed confused.

"I made you guys worry. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Kyoraku said.

"No, really," Haruna said. "I'm really sorry. I promise I'll do my best so..."

"Haruna," Ukitake said, looking at her straight in the eyes and with a very firm voice. "We'll stay with you no matter what."

Haruna blushed and look away, but she immediately turned her head back and smiled. "Yeah."

"Heh," Kyoraku said. "I guess we really didn't have much to worry about."

"You're right," Ukitake's voice was getting fainter.

"Juushiro, are you sure you're okay?" Haruna asked in concern.

"Yeah..." his voice was barely audible now.

"Onii-chan," Haruna looked at her brother. He moved even without her saying anything else.

Hayato was already next to Ukitake, checking his temperature, pulse, and pressure. "He's just tired. Haruna, help him get to the First room and let him get some rest. When his fever is gone, he can go home."

"Okay," Haruna said as she moved. Kyoraku moved as well and helped Ukitake get up. The two of them took Ukitake to the First room and helped him lie down on an empty bed.

"Get some sleep," Haruna said and smiled.

"Yeah," Ukitake replied. "Sorry."

"Let's go, Shunsui," Haruna said. The two turned around and left the room to let Ukitake sleep in the quiet.

When they rejoined Hayato, there was a female Shinigami standing next to him, talking to him.

"Yumi-chan!" Haruna got excited when she saw the female Shinigami.

"Haruna," Yumi said equally excited.

"You're back from your mission already?" Haruna asked.

"Yeah," Yumi replied cheerfully. "It was pretty easy."

"If it was easy," Hayato said shaking his head, "how did you hurt your leg?"

"You hurt your leg?!" Haruna exclaimed.

"Hayato!" Yumi exclaimed. "I told you it doesn't hurt!"

"Onii-chan, have you looked at it?" Haruna asked.

"No," Hayato replied.

"Hehe," Yumi laughed. "I just got here, actually. I wanted him to check my leg."

"You're so much trouble, Yumi," Hayato said. "Sit on that chair."

Just as Yumi sat down, the servant named Midokawa came in.

"Hayato-sama," he said kneeling down. "An urgent patient has just arrived. His arm has been severely injured to the point that you can see his bones."

Kyoraku flinched at the description of the patient.

"Haruna, take a look at Yumi's leg," Hayato said calmly. Then he left hastily with the servant, telling him, "Prepare the Fourth room."

Haruna put her hand on Yumi's leg and said, "Where does it hurt?"

"Right under the knee," Yumi replied. She flinched when Haruna lightly pressed the spot.

"You broke your leg," Haruna said.

"Ehhh?" Yumi exclaimed.

"Yumi-chan, did you fall or hit something really hard with your leg?"

"Mmm... Now that I think about it..." Yumi said, trying to remember something. "On my way back, I do remember hitting something really hard, but I can't remember what it was."

"It was probably then that you broke it," Haruna said in a serious tone. Then, in a lighter tone, she said, "Sheesh, Yumi-chan. You're so clumsy. No wonder Onii-chan is always worrying about you so much."

"Hehe," Yumi goofily laughed, her cheeks slightly red. Then she saw Kyoraku and stared at him for a few seconds. "Ahh, we've met before, haven't we?"

"Yes," Kyoraku replied. "Back when you had a 'little scratch' on your arm."

"Oh my," Yumi said. "I'm Sato Yumi."

"Kyoraku Shunsui."

Yumi smiled. Haruna noticed Kyoraku was acting different.

"Shunsui?" Haruna walked up next to him. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," he replied.

Haruna put her hand on his forehead. "You don't seem to have a fever." Then she thought for a few seconds. "I think you're a little disturbed."

"Yeah," he said. He seemed to be disgusted. "I don't know how you can keep so calm."

"Is it because of the patient that just came in?" Yumi asked him.

Kyoraku nodded.

"Shunsui," Haruna said calmly. "Onii-chan and I... We're both doctors. We're used to this kind of thing, and we've seen worse things. That's why we can remain so calm."

Kyoraku looked at Haruna in the eyes. _It must have been so hard for her, too, having to look at all these things from such a young age..._

"Shunsui," Kyoraku's thoughts were interrupted by Haruna. "You should go home and get some rest. It has been a long day."

"Yeah. I'll be off then. Please take care of Ukitake," Kyoraku said and turned around.

"Umm, Shunsui?" Haruna called him before he could leave. "Sorry you had to hear that. And thanks for worrying about me and coming to check on me."

"Heh," Kyoraku's goofy side came back. "Anything for such a cutie." Then he left without hearing anything else from Haruna.

"Seriously," Haruna was pouting. "He's always joking around." Then she smiled. "But I'm glad he's back to normal."

When she turned around, Yumi had a weird expression on her face, as if she were worried about something.

"Yumi-chan?" Haruna called her. "Are you okay? Does your leg hurt a lot?"

"No," Yumi replied, "that's not it. I'm fine. I'm just worried about that guy."

"Yeah," Haruna said, "me too..."

"Well," Yumi said more cheerfully. "I hope he gets better in expressing his opinions."

"What do you mean?" Haruna asked, confused.

"It's alright if you don't know," Yumi answered.

* * *

 **Please tell me your thoughts on the story so far hehe c:**


	8. 8: Old Man

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of the Bleach characters. There are a few OC (like the whole Kurayami family), but the rest of the characters are works of the mangaka of Bleach.**

* * *

Early the next morning, Ukitake woke up and found Haruna putting a wet cloth on his forehead.

"Oh," she said, startled. "You woke up. You ended up staying asleep through the whole night."

"Sorry to trouble you all the time, Haruna," Ukitake said while trying to sit up.

"Don't push yourself too hard, Juushiro," she said as she helped him.

"Thanks," he said. "What time is it?"

"It's still early," she replied. "We still have about two hours before we have to show up to the Academy."

"Ohh."

"Do you think you'll be able to go?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm feeling pretty well now. Thanks for letting me rest here."

"Juushiro," Haruna said. "This is a hospital... There's no way we wouldn't let anyone stay here..."

"Right," Ukitake said and smiled. "But you and your brother have been so kind to me."

"Huh?" Haruna was confused, so she waited for Ukitake to elaborate more on what he had said.

"All of the doctors I had gone to previously gave up on me. They never really tried to do anything to me because they thought nothing could even alleviate my pain. But you and Hayato-sensei did so much for me. I know that while I was here for two weeks, you were the one to take care of me day and night, with Hayato-sensei coming in at least twice a day to make sure everything was okay. Nobody has ever done that."

"Uhh..." Haruna couldn't find the words to say in this situation. "You're... Really strong," she finally said after thinking for a while. "Honestly, I don't know if I would be able to go through all that and still smile and be kind like you are. I would lose my trust in everyone and hate them. It's your own strength and kindness that has kept you alive."

"Thanks," Ukitake replied with a big, goofy smile.

Haruna laughed at the expression Ukitake had made for the first time in front of her. Then, she abruptly stopped laughing and stared at him. "I really like the color of your hair."

"It's just white," Ukitake said, blushing.

"Yeah," Haruna said. "But I really like it, Shiro-chan."

"Shi-shiro-chan?" Ukitake was taken by surprise by the cute way she had addressed him, and his face got completely red.

"Ahh," Haruna said, also blushing as she realized what she had said, "sorry... Do you mind if I call you that?"

"Eh? Ah... No.. Not really... I guess..." he replied shyly.

"Okay then, Shiro-chan," she smiled. "I should go get ready to go to the Academy. Get ready too so we can leave together. I think Shunsui is coming here soon."

"Y-yeah," Ukitake was still embarrassed of the way she called him.

A while later, Haruna came back wearing her uniform and found Ukitake out of bed and ready to go. They met Kyoraku at the door and they left for the Academy. The three of them walked at a slow pace so that Ukitake wouldn't be tired when they arrived. Kyoraku noticed a strange awkwardness in Ukitake as Haruna helped him, but Kyoraku couldn't quite understand what was going on.

When they arrived at their new room, they saw Captain-commander Yamamoto already inside.

"You're late, you youngsters," he said in a rather harsh tone.

"We're sorry," Ukitake said. He sounded really sorry. "It was my fault."

Kyoraku and Haruna looked at Ukitake. Before they could say anything, the Captain- commander started talking.

"I know about you're health, so there is no need to apologize."

"Yes," Ukitake replied.

"Today you will have a more advanced training in kido," the Captain-commander said. "I have seen some of your training sessions, and I noticed that the three of you have a very high-leveled control of reiatsu, especially you, Juushiro."

Kyoraku looked confused, but Ukitake and Haruna looked completely calm.

"If I'm correct," the Captain-commander continued talking, "Juushiro, you've been controlling your reiatsu to suppress your illness as much as possible, and that requires and incredibly high-leveled control of reiatsu, as well as a big amount of it."

Ukitake looked at Haruna, who already knew this, and Kyoraku, who smiled at him in understanding.

"All three of you have a big amount of reiatsu, as well as good control of it. My goal is to make you capable of controlling your reiatsu even better so that you'll be able to cast higher-leveled kido with ease. For that, however, you need to be able to cast the lower-leveled kido and control its force. Today, we will start with that. Explaining with words is useless. It may give you an idea to how to control your reiatsu, but I'm pretty sure none of you need to hear it. I want you to use a low level kido to knock out those dummies without destroying them. Scratches are fine, but if it gets damaged too much, you're doing it wrong. Hit them with enough force so that they will fall and get a few scratches, but not so strong that they get burned or destroyed. Understood?"

"Yes," the three students answered simultaneously.

There were about thirty dummies in total, and three of them were put in front of the three students, one dummy for each. They spent the whole morning with this one exercise, and in total, the three of them together destroyed half of the dummies.

"This is harder than what I thought," Kyoraku said with a sigh while they were eating lunch.

"Yeah," Haruna replied. "At least we were able to knock the dummies down a few times without destroying them. That's good progress I guess."

"I never thought we would have to control our reiatsu to make our attacks weaker," Kyoraku said.

"It makes sense though," Ukitake said. "We need to be able to control our reiatsu so that it doesn't explode when we don't want it to."

"Heh," Kyoraku laughed. "You're right."

They spent the rest of their lunch time in silence, until they had to go back again for more training. That whole day was basically spent training reiatsu control.

After the training, Kyoraku and Ukitake left the room first, and Haruna approached the Captain-commander.

"Sensei," she said carefully.

"Do you need something?" he asked her.

"Yes," she replied politely.

"What is it?"

"I was wondering," she said hesitating, "if I could miss one day next week."

"What's your reason?"

"I have some personal matters to settle," she replied with a rather gloomy voice.

The Captain-commander was quiet for a few seconds and then said, "Alright."

"Thank you," she said and bowed down.

When she went out of the room, she saw Ukitake and Kyoraku waiting for her in the hallway.

"Are you done?" Kyoraku asked.

"Huh?" Haruna was confused at first, but then she realized what he was asking. "Yeah."

"Alright," Kyoraku said, "let's go get something to eat then."

"Uhh..." Haruna said. "I have to go home and help my brother."

"Oh, okay..." Kyoraku said.

"Yeah, sorry! I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Haruna said cheerfully and left the two young men standing in awe.

"She's acting weird," Ukitake murmured.

"What?" Kyoraku asked.

"Nothing," Ukitake replied, not wanting to worry his friend too much. "I'm feeling a little tired, so I'll go home and sleep."

"Alright," Kyoraku said. "I guess we'll just have to go eat some other day." Then Kyoraku smiled. "I'll take you home, since you might faint out of nowhere."

"Heh," Ukitake laughed. "Thanks."

For the next few days, Haruna spent less and less time with Kyoraku and Ukitake, and the two young men noticed that their friend was not being her normal cheerful self, but they didn't ask anything. They would wait until she felt ready to tell them.

One day after their training was done, they were heading outside of the Academy together, and Haruna, as usual, was walking in front of the other two. She suddenly stopped walking.

"Tomorrow," she said with a very weak voice. She had seemed really tired lately, but whenever the two asked her if she was tired, she would say she was fine. "You guys don't have to come pick me up, and don't wait for me either."

"Huh..." Ukitake said. "Haruna? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered with a smile. "Just... Don't worry about me and go to the Academy without me, okay?"

"Uhh... Sure... But why?" Ukitake said. He was really worried about her.

"It's nothing," was all she said. Then she started walking ahead.

"Wait! Haru—" Ukitake stopped when he felt Kyoraku put his hand on his shoulder.

"Let her be, Ukitake. She needs to be alone. Let's wait until she's ready to tell us whatever is going on."

After much hesitation, Ukitake nodded. "You're right."

The next day, Kyoraku and Ukitake arrived at the Academy without Haruna, just like she had told them. They had arrived a little early, so they sat down and talked before the Captain-commander arrived.

"I'm really worried about her..." Ukitake said. "She's been acting really different, and now this... I wonder what's going on..."

"Ukitake," Kyoraku said, trying to cheer his friend up. "I know she'll tell us when the time comes. I'm worried too, you know? But let's wait. I don't want to pressure her to do something she doesn't want to, and that includes talking about things she doesn't want to. I'm sure you feel the same way."

"Yeah," Ukitake said. "Thanks."

Then the Captain-commander came in.

"Sensei," Ukitake said. "Haruna—"

"I know," the Captain-commander said. "She won't come today. She told me beforehand that she would miss today due to personal matters."

Kyoraku and Ukitake looked at each other and realized something.

"So that's why she came out late that day huh..." Ukitake said.

"Yeah," Kyoraku agreed. "I guess it's something really big."

"I really hope she's okay..." Ukitake said, looking gloomy.

"Kids," the Captain-commander said. "Take the day off today. There's no way you'll focus if you're worrying about her. We'll pick it up when she comes back."

The two students looked at the older man.

"Sensei," Ukitake said.

"Yama-jii..." Kyoraku said.

"Don't call me 'Yama-jii'!" the Captain-commander said and hit Kyoraku's head. Then he left.

"Ouch!" Kyoraku exclaimed. "That really hurt, Yama-jii!"

"It's kind of your fault for calling him 'Old Man,' Kyoraku," Ukitake said and laughed.

"I guess you're right," Kyoraku said, laughing.

Then they were quiet for a few seconds.

"I hope she's okay," Ukitake broke the silence.

"Yeah, me too."


	9. 9: Nightmares

**Chapter 9 :) I hope you like it~ And please leave reviews/comments on the story so far~ I appreciate your thoughts on the story :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor its characters. All credits go to Tite Kubo.**

* * *

Haruna and Hayato woke up early in the morning that day, before even the sun came up. They both got dressed up in black and did their hairs a little bit different than usual. Hayato had the kenseikan on the left side of his head, which pulled his hair back on one side. Haruna also had the kenseikan on the left side of her head, and the strands of hair that came out of the back side of the kenseikan were braided to the other side. They went out and were greeted by a much older man, also wearing black. This man, just like Haruna and Hayato, had bluish gray eyes, but his hair was completely different from the other two. The older man's hair was a dark blue that almost looked like black, and it was neatly cut. He also had the kenseikan, but it was on the right side.

"I see you're finally wearing your kenseikan," the older man said, looking at Haruna and Hayato.

"Yes, Father," he replied. "We promised Mother we would wear it starting from her death anniversary because Haruna would be old enough by then."

"I'm sure your mother would be very proud of how much both of you have grown up," the older man said.

"Father," Haruna said, with her eyes tearing up.

They just stood there in silence until the servant Midokawa talked to the older man.

"Ichirou-sama, it's time to go," the servant said and bowed down.

"Yes, Midokawa," the older man replied. Then he turned to his two children. "Let's go, Hayato, Haruna."

"Yes," Haruna and Hayato said in one voice.

* * *

They arrived at a big garden inside a mansion owned by the Kurayami house. In the middle of that garden, there was a single tombstone surrounded by beautiful evergreen trees and a few flowers that had bloomed despite the cold winter days. All three members of the Kurayami family, along with their servant Midokawa, stood in front of the tombstone: Ichirou, the father, was standing in the front, and right behind were Haruna and Hayato, and behind the two was the servant.

They stared at the tombstone in silence.

"Kurayami Miyako, wife of the 29th Head of the Kurayami family."

As she looked at the tombstone of her mother, Haruna couldn't help but cry. Hayato put his arm around her shoulder to comfort her, but he himself had teary eyes.

"Miyako," their father started speaking. "Our children have grown up so much in a year." Even though his voice was shaking, he kept talking. "They're doing fine. I already gave Hayato the leadership to the family, and he's been doing great. Haruna entered the new Shinigami Academy set up by Yamamoto-dono, and it seems she made great friends."

Haruna's tears wouldn't stop after hearing this. Surely, her mother would be happy to hear the words her father had just spoken. Hayato hugged her tighter, and the siblings cried together. Now their father also had tears in his eyes.

* * *

That morning, the head of the Kuchiki house and the head of the Shihouin house came to the garden to greet the Kurayami family and give their condolences. Then, in the afternoon, the head of the Kyoraku family came.

"I am sorry, Ichirou-san," the head of the Kyoraku family said. "I'm sure she would have been very proud to see your children so grown up and mature."

"Yes," Ichirou said. "Thank you."

Ichirou and the head of the Kyoraku family talked for a few minutes, and the latter said good-bye to Hayato and Haruna before leaving.

"So that's Shunsui's father..." Haruna said out loud to herself.

"They look nothing alike..." Hayato said.

"Heh," Haruna giggled. "You're right."

"Haruna," Hayato called her. "Get some sleep. You must be tired."

"It's okay," she said, restraining a yawn as she said so.

"Haruna," Hayato said in a serious tone of voice. "Get some sleep."

Haruna was going to say something back, but she knew she had to get some sleep. After all, she had stayed awake the whole night. Not like it was her fault. Every time she closed her eyes, she would remember THAT day, so she ended up walking around in the garden outside of her room and looking at the night sky.

"Wake me up if someone else comes," she said and went to a room in the mansion.

* * *

When she woke up, it was late in the afternoon, and the sun was about to set. She went outside and saw her brother sitting under one of the trees in the garden and talking to their father. When the two men saw Haruna, they stood up and walked towards her.

"How are you?" Hayato asked her.

"I'm feeling better, thanks," she replied and smiled. "Did anyone else come?"

"Yes," Ichirou answered. "The head of the Ukitake family paid his respect."

"Oh," she said. "Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked her brother.

"I was going to," Hayato replied, "but Ukitake-san told me not to bother you. He was a little worried about you, since he saw you going to take care of his son really often."

Haruna stared at the ground for a few seconds. "I'll make sure to thank him next time I see him."

"Yeah," Ichirou said with a proud smile. "It's getting late. Let's go home."

The three went in front of the tombstone one last time before leaving the mansion, and each said something to their beloved one.

"Mom," Haruna said, "I promise I'll do my best and become stronger..." Her eyes teared up again. "I'll try my best not to cry, and I promise you that from now on, I will protect those I love so that something like this doesn't happen again..."

"Mother," Hayato said, "I'll take care of Haruna and the whole house, as well as Father. I won't let my little sister cry, so don't worry about her. As for me, I'm doing well, so don't worry about me either. We'll come visit you again soon."

"My Dear," Ichirou said, "our kids have grown so much, and I know they'll do great and become great people. Do not worry about them. I love you."

The three of them, along with the servant Midokawa, left the mansion after sunset, and when they arrived home (or their usual place of residency), Haruna said goodnight to her father and brother, and went straight to her room. She changed to her night kimono, laid our her futon, and went to sleep.

* * *

It was a dark rainy night, and Haruna couldn't sleep. The darkness made her uneasy, and the sound of the rain scared her. She walked out of her room and went to her parents' room. Her father was in the hospital section of the house, taking care of the patients, and her mother was asleep. She heard Haruna's footsteps and sat down.

"Is anything wrong, Haruna?" she asked with her charming gentle voice.

"I-I can't sleep..." Haruna answered trembling.

"Oh Dear," her mother said stretching her arms, "come here."

But the moment Haruna walked into her mother's arms, everything turned red, and her mother's body went limb.

"Mother?" Haruna cried out.

"Ge-get... Away..." her mother faintly said, blood dripping out of the corners of her mouth.

"Mother!" Haruna cried out in agony.

There was a sword piercing her mother's chest, and behind the dead woman, there was a man wearing a white kimono, which was stained with crimson red blood. He thrust the sword out of the dead body and pointed it at Haruna herself. He lifted the sword ready to slay her.

"NOOOOOOOOO," Haruna yelled as she woke up. She was covered in sweat and breathing harshly and trembling. She heard footsteps outside of her room and became even more afraid and agitated.

"Haruna?!" It was Hayato. He slid the door open with force and ran towards her. "What happened?" he said, extremely agitated with concern, as he hugged her.

"Onii-chan," she said with a trembling voice. Tears started flowing, and before she knew it, she was crying like a child.

"There, there," Hayato said calmly, patting her head with one hand and embracing her shaking little body with the other. "You had another nightmare?"

Haruna nodded while still crying on her brother's shoulder.

"I'm here now, so it's okay. There's no need to be scared," Hayato said with a comforting voice.

Haruna eventually stopped crying.

"I'm sorry, Onii-chan," she said wiping her tears with her sleeves. "I scared you, didn't I?"

"It's okay," he said smiling. "Anything for my little sister."

"Thank you," she said smiling back at him.

"Do you think you can sleep?" Hayato asked.

"I don't know..." Haruna said looking at the floor.

"Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?"

Haruna nodded.

Hayato stayed with her, holding her hand and singing a lullaby, until she fell asleep.

* * *

Late in the morning, Haruna woke up at the sound of footsteps outside of her room.

"Ojou-sama," one of the female servants said. "You have visitors."

"Huh?" she said trying to sit up and think clear. "Who is it?"

"They say they are Ukitake Juushiro and Kyoraku Shunsui. Should I tell them you are unable to meet them?"

"Ahh!" she exclaimed when she heard the two familiar names. "No, that's okay. Let them in."

"Yes," the servant said and went away. Then she came back with the two young men.

"Yo, Haruna-chan," Kyoraku said smiling goofily.

"Good morning," Ukitake said, avoiding Haruna's eyes.

"Go-good morning," Haruna said, trying to stand up.

"There's no need to stand up," Kyoraku said. "You look awfully tired."

"Oh..." she sighed, realizing that she must not look her best after such a bad night. "Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Kyoraku said. "Being tired is not a thing to apologize for."

Haruna was too tired to even think about anything to say, so she just blankly stared at her two friends who had come to visit her. Kyoraku stared back, and Ukitake kept looking at the floor.

"Ummmmmm..." Kyoraku said. "Haruna-chan?"

"Huh?" she said, snapping out of her blankness.

"Are you gonna keep us standing outside?" Kyoraku asked jokingly.

"Oh!" Haruna said, realizing what she had done (or in this case, not done). "I'm so sorry! Come in," she said, trying to sound cheerful. She didn't want to worry her friends any more than they probably already were.

The two went in and sat down, and the three stayed silent for a while. Ukitake was still looking at the floor, and Haruna noticed it.

"Juushiro?" she called him.

"Yeah?" Ukitake answered without looking at her eyes.

Haruna realized he was avoiding her eyes on purpose, and decided to not say anything. "No, it's nothing."

There was an awkward silence.

"Oh, Yama-jii said that we wouldn't have any class until you came back to the Academy," Kyoraku said, trying to lighten up the mood a little bit,

"Ohh, really?" she said surprised. She had asked for a day off, but never really expected to miss an extra day, and she never thought that the Captain-commander would cancel the classes until she came back. She smiled at that thought. Ukitake finally looked at her the moment she smiled. _She finally smiled,_ he said, and he smiled himself.

Haruna noticed he finally looked at her, and blushed when she saw his smile. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

"Oh," Ukitake said, realizing he had been looking at her and smiling, and he looked away blushing. "So-sorry." There was another awkward silence.

"You guys need to talk," Kyoraku said as he stood up. "I'll be back later, so make sure you talk things out to get rid of this awkwardness." And with that, he left.

* * *

 **Remember to leave reviews/comments. They make me happy 3 Help make one more writer happy :)**


	10. 10: Trust

**Here's Chapter 10 Sorry I took so long! I started school again and didn't have time to finish it up :'c**

 **Anyways... I don't know how often I'll update now, since I'm kinda busy now :'c But I'll do my best to keep you guys updated with the story hehe**

 **BTW! Leave reviews / comments, I love those 3**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach nor any of its characters. All credist go to Tite Kubo.**

* * *

After Kyoraku left, Ukitake and Haruna looked everywhere except at each other. They stayed quiet for a few minutes before Ukitake spoke.

"Umm... Haruna?" he called her name, since she seemed to be looking at the floor deep in thought. Now he was looking at her intently.

"Yeah?" she said. She looked at him for an instant before turning away again. She felt like if she looked into his kind eyes, she would break down and start crying, just like she had done last night. She didn't want to worry him.

"Why are you avoiding my eyes?" he asked.

"Why were YOU avoiding my eyes until a little bit ago?" she asked, still not looking at him.

"I..." he couldn't find the words to say.

"You wanted to ask me about yesterday but also didn't want to pressure me to talk about it if I didn't feel like it, am I right?"

Ukitake was surprised at the accuracy with which Haruna had just said all this. He remained silent, not knowing what to say, and Haruna finally had the courage to look at him.

"I'll tell you everything when Shunsui comes back..."

"Okay," Ukitake said, glad that she was willing to talk. "Wait.. But when is he coming back?"

"I don't know," she said. "He said later, right? Let's just wait for him."

"Okay."

Another few minutes passed by in silence.

"I can't stand this anymore!" Ukitake said, suddenly standing up. Then his face went a little pale, and his breathing became a little heavy.

"Don't stand up so abruptly!" Haruna exclaimed, almost scolding him.

"Oops..." he said with a faint smile. He sat back down.

"Seriously," Haruna said with a sigh. "Why are you so careless?"

"Hehe," Ukitake laughed.

"What's so funny?" Haruna asked, confused.

"You're back to normal," Ukitake replied with a smile. "I'm glad."

"Wha-" Haruna blushed.

"I was really worried," he said, remembering the way Haruna had acted the last few days. He had a sad look in his face.

"Juushiro..." Haruna called his name, feeling sad that she had made him worry so much. "I'm sorry..."

"No," Ukitake said, his smile coming back to his face, "don't apologize. It's not your fault. You didn't make me worry because you wanted to. I worry because I care about you, and the same goes for Kyoraku. Both of us care for you, so it can't be helped that we get worried."

Haruna blushed at the thought of her two friends caring for her. They had become so dear for her, but she hadn't been sure of what they thought of her. After hearing Ukitake's words, however, she was more than relieved. She was happy, and she couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."

"Thank you for what?" Kyoraku said as he came in.

"Shunsui! Finally!" Haruna exclaimed.

"What? You were waiting for me? Are you done talking things over?" Kyoraku asked.

"Sort of," Haruna replied. "I wanted you to listen to what I wanted to say too, so I told Juushiro to wait for you." She chuckled when she saw Kyoraku's confused expression.

"What did you want to tell us?" Kyoraku asked tilting his head.

"Well... How do I start?" Haruna tried to put her thoughts in order before starting to speak. Her face was more serious, and every now and then, it even looked gloomy. "Let me start from the reason I took the day off yesterday.

"A year ago, something terrible happened. It was a really dark night, darker than usual, and it was raining. I couldn't sleep. I had a really bad feeling that something would happen, so I got scared and couldn't sleep. I went to my parents' room, where my mother was sleeping. My father and my brother were back at the hospital side of the house, so my mother was alone. She heard my footsteps and woke up. She hugged me to calm me down because I was trembling, and I had started to fall asleep. Then I heard her groan in pain and blood started coming out from the corners of her mouth. I felt her chest wet, and when I looked, her kimono was stained red, and I could see the tip of a blade coming out of her chest. I was too scared to move or say anything, and my eyes started to fill with tears. I heard my mother faintly say, 'Run away,' before she went completely cold and limb.

"Behind her, there was a man wearing a white kimono, which was stained with blood too, and he was holding the sword that had pierced through my mother's chest. His eyes were red, and his facial expression told me he wasn't normal. He violently pulled the sword out of my mother's chest and licked the blood dripping from the blade. I was so scared that I couldn't even scream for help. Then the man pointed his sword at me and swung it up, ready to slay me. I finally was able to scream, and I think the scream startled the man cuz he stood there motionless for a few seconds. I somehow managed to get up and start running. I left the room and ran to the garden. I didn't care that I was getting wet, I just wanted to get away from the man. I was panicking and crying, and my vision was clouded because of the rain and my tears, so I stumbled on a rock and fell.

"The man took this opportunity and swung his sword down at me, but my brother came and stopped him with his own sword. Onii-chan distracted the man while my father and Midokawa-san approached him from the back with rope. Onii-chan managed to loosen the grip that the man had on his sword and threw him to the ground. Then Midokawa-san and my father took his sword and tied him up until the Executive Militia Corps arrived and took the man away.

"Apparently, he was a former Shinigami who had been put in solitary confinement for killing his teammates during a mission. He had somehow managed to escape, so the Executive Militia Corps assured us that they would put him in a deeper part of the prison. When they left with the man, Onii-chan and Father came to me and hugged me. I was trembling so much, and when they hugged me, I started crying. I cried myself to sleep, and when I woke up, two weeks had passed since then. Apparently the shock was so great that I went on a partial coma.

"I guess that pretty much sums it all up..." When she finished her story, she was trembling again, and tears threatened to come out, but she suppressed them and smiled.

Kyoraku and Ukitake were speechless. For a long time, they stared at Haruna, who was trying to suppress her tears.

"You know? It's bad to suppress your tears," Kyoraku finally said. "It's better to let it all out sometimes. You can't hide them forever."

Haruna looked at Kyoraku and then at Ukitake, and the two were smiling at her. When she saw their warm smiles, she couldn't help but let it all out. When she started crying, Kyoraku and Ukitake moved closer to her and hugged her from both sides. She cried for a couple of minutes, and when she was done, she wiped her cheeks with her sleeves.

"By the way, Juushiro," she said, still sniffing a little bit.

"Yes?" Ukitake said surprised.

"You didn't answer me," she said. "Why were you avoiding my eyes?"

"Oh," Ukitake said, trying to think of how to answer that. "Umm... It was nothing."

"I don't believe you!" Haruna said, pouting a little bit. "I know there was something."

"Well..."

"Well...?" Haruna was persistent.

"I just..." he thought for a few seconds. He saw Haruna was looking intently at him, so he finally sighed and said, "I actually went with my father yesterday."

"Huh?" Haruna seemed confused. Then she realized what he meant and said, "Oh."

"Yeah," he said, "you were sleeping, and Hayato-sensei wanted to wake you up to tell you I was there, but I told him not to. Also, my father agreed he shouldn't, since he knows you've been taking care of me a lot lately."

"Oh..." was all Haruna could say. "So you came with your father..."

"You knew my father went?" Ukitake asked in surprise.

"Yeah," she replied. "Father and Onii-chan told me he came, but they didn't tell me you had come."

"Well," he said, "I asked them not to tell you..."

"Why?" she asked surprised.

"Because," he looked down again, "then you would have guessed that I heard of what happened, and I wanted to wait until you were willing to open up..."

"So you heard what happened?" she asked.

"Well, yes..." he said, not looking at her, again. "I heard briefly from your father."

"Is that why you were avoiding my eyes?"

"I... I just didn't know what I could do to cheer you up," he said, blushing a little bit and looking a little sad. "And I couldn't just act like I didn't know anything."

Haruna chuckled, and Kyoraku laughed.

"Wha-" Ukitake was surprised. "Why are you lauughing?"

"Because," Haruna said, still chuckling, "I'm just happy that you would think about me so much." Then she realized what she said. "I-I mean... That you would worry about me so much..."

Kyoraku laughed. "Of course he worries about you!" he said smiling. "We're friends, so we worry about you."

"Thanks, Shunsui," Haruna said. Then she turned to Ukitake. "Thanks, Juushiro."

"Kyoraku is right," Ukitake said. "You're our friend, so we can't really not worry about you."

"And also," Kyoraku added, "you probably feel the same way about us, or do you not worry about us at all?"

"Of course I worry about you! How can I not?" Haruna replied.

"That's how we feel about you," Kyoraku said smiling. "Friendship is not a one-sided thing."

"Thank you," Haruna said after a few seconds of silence, "for being my friends."

"Thank you as well," Ukitake said, "for being our friend."

The three of them smiled at each other.

"I think we should leave," Kyoraku said. "Haruna-chan needs to rest." He looked at her and winked.

"Yeah," Ukitake said. "We'll come see you tomorrow."

"No," Haruna replied. "We'll see each other at the Academy."

"Are you sure you can go? You don't have to force yourself," Ukitake said, worried about her.

"It's okay," she replied with a big, genuine smile. "I'm fine now."

* * *

 **Please tell me your thoughts on the story :)**


	11. 11: Secrets

**Hey~! It's been a while... I've been busy so I didn't have time to write at all.. T^T I actually don't know how often I'll be writing... and I'm so sorry :'c But I'll try my best to keep you all updated BTW! Leave reviews please! Those make me extremely happy!**

 **P.S. I don't own Bleach. All credits go to Tite Kubo.**

* * *

"See that? I knew she was from a noble family." "Wait but why did she just start to wear the kenseikan?" "I heard the other Noble Houses are getting rid of the kenseikan to blend in more. Only the Kuchiki House and the Kurayami House keep wearing them for some reason." As Haruna entered the academy, people started whispering. She had been gone for an entire week: Kyoraku and Ukitake insisted she should take a break after her mother's memorial ceremony, and Commander Yamomoto had agreed. She had the kenseikan, the symbol of nobility, on her scarlet hair.

"I guess just having the name with them is not enough." "Do they need to seriously show their nobility in the way they dress?" The other students kept whispering.

"Haruna-chan," Kyoraku came from behind. "Why did you come by yourself?"

"We went to your house but your brother told us you had left already," Ukitake said.

"Ah," Haruna said, turning around, "Sorry."

"No need to apologize," Kyoraku said smiling. "Anyways," he put his arm around Haruna's shoulder. "Your new hairstyle suits you really well."

"Thanks," she replied. Then she slowly moved away from Kyoraku's grip and hit his head. "Hurry up or we'll be late and he'll get mad!"

"Gosh she's so strong," Kyoraku said while holding his head, where Haruna had hit him.

"Let's go," Ukitake said, laughing.

* * *

"Kids," Commander Yamamoto called his three students. It had been a week since Haruna had come back to train.

"It's too early, Old Man," Kyoraku complained as he yawned.

"Don't," Commander Yamamoto hit Kyoraku's head, "call me an old man. Now, I need you to do something before we go on with our training."

The three students waited for the Commander's next words, but they never came.

"Sensei," Ukitake broke the silence. "What do you need us to do?" It was the question everyone wanted to ask.

"You will know when the time comes. Before that, you don't have to come," Commander Yamamoto said and left the room.

"Huh?" all three students looked at each other in confusion before following their teacher.

"Sensei!" the three of them called.

"What do you mean?" Haruna asked. "You haven't told us what to do!"

"There is nothing more I can teach you now," was all the Commander said.

"But..." Haruna complained.

"You can keep training on your own. You don't need me anymore. At least not yet." And with that, the Commander left.

The three students stood in awe, not knowing what to do or to say.

"We should..." Kyoraku broke the silence. "Leave."

"I'm..." Haruna said, "going back home..."

"Can we go with you?" Ukitake asked.

"Maybe your brother knows what this is all about," Kyoraku said in agreement.

"Sure..."

/ / / / / / /

"Ojou-sama," Midokawa welcomed Haruna. "You are home early."

"Yes," Haruna replied. "Classes were... canceled, I guess..."

"Pardon?" Midokawa seemed confused. Then he saw the equally confused looks on the three young students and decided not to ask anymore.

"Is onii-chan home?" Haruna asked.

"He is tending a group of Shinigami that came back from a mission. He is in the First Room," Midokawa replied politely.

"Thank you," Haruna said and bowed, followed by Kyoraku and Ukitake. Midokawa bowed as the three left.

Kyoraku and Ukitake followed Haruna into the First Room and saw the many injured Shinigami lying on the beds and the countless doctors of the Kurayami House in their white gowns tending to them. Hayato was in the end of the room talking to a familiar female Shinigami.

"Onii-chan," Haruna called. When Hayato turned around, Kyoraku and Ukitake bowed. "Yumi-chan!" Haruna seemed to be excited about seeing her.

"Haruna-chan!" Yumi exclaimed, equally excited. "It's been a long time!"

"Yeah! Did you just come back from your mission?"

"Yeah..." Yumi said with a tired voice. "It was a long mission..."

"At least you didn't get hurt this time," Hayato said in relief.

"That is right," Haruna said, quite surprised.

"Heh heh..." Yumi laughed. "By the way..." she said in a more serious tone. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it last week..."

"It's okay," Haruna said cheerfully. "You were away, and it couldn't be helped."

"Wait," Hayato said, suddenly realizing something. "Shouldn't you guys be in the Academy right now?"

"Oh yeah, about that..." Haruna turned around and looked at Kyoraku and Ukitake, who were standing behind her. "We need to ask you something..."

Yumi and Hayato listened to what the three students had to say. When Haruna finished telling them what happened, Ukitake asked, "Do you know what he might be talking about?"

"Well..." Hayato said. He looked at Yumi, and she nodded. "I'm pretty sure that's what he means..."

"Yeah..." Yumi agreed with him.

"What is?" Haruna asked.

"This is something you guys need to figure out yourselves," Hayato replied.

"What?" the three young ones exclaimed.

"But," Yumi said, "the Commander is right. There is nothing he can teach you guys anymore. At least not now."

"Huh?" the three exclaimed again.

"But it will be worth it," Hayato said, and Yumi nodded in agreement. Kyoraku, Ukitake, and Haruna just looked at each other confused.

"So what should we do now then...?" Kyoraku asked.

"You could..." Hayato tried to think of a solution. "It's... uhh... Hard to tell... You just have to work on increasing you reiatsu and controlling it."

"I'll just..." Haruna said, "help with the work here until I figure it out."

"I'll come and help whenever I can," Kyoraku said.

"Me too," Ukitake said.

"Actually," Hayato said, looking at Ukitake, "I would like you to stay here for a few days, if you don't mind."

"Huh?" Ukitake looked at Hayato for clarification.

"I would like to do some more studies on your condition," he replied. "I asked your father, and he said it's okay as long as you're fine with it."

"Oh," Ukitake looked at Haruna. She returned with a concerned look.

"Actually," Haruna spoke, "I'll be doing the studies..." She sounded determined.

Ukitake thought for a few minutes before slightly nodding his head.

"Are you sure?" Hayato asked.

"Yes," Ukitake replied, this time firmly.

* * *

"Can you lay down here?" Haruna pointed at a lone bed in a bright room.

"Where is this?" Ukitake asked.

"It's a special room we use for the patients who ask for a room of their own," Haruna explained. "I want to do the studies here, since it's more private."

"I see," Ukitake said. He looked at the petite red-haired girl standing in front of her. When she turned around, he smiled.

"Get on the bed," she said. "I'll be back."

"Yes," he said and he lay down.

A few minutes later, Haruna came back with some scrolls and nothing else.

"Is that all you need?" Ukitake asked. He wondered if that was really all she needed.

"Yeah," Haruna said confidently. "I'm sorry if it looks suspicious."

"No no no," Ukitake said urgently. "It's not suspicious."

"You don't have to lie," Haruna said. "I'm quite used to people doubting my studies." She looked at him and laughed. She then showed him the scroll. "This is a sacred scroll that is handed down in the Kurayami House. This was supposed to be for my brother, but..."

"But our Father and the Council decided that she was more fit to use the scroll," Hayato came in and finished the sentence.

"Hayato-san," Ukitake called in surprise. Then he saw Haruna, and she was looking at the floor, with an apologetic look on her face.

"See," Hayato started explaining, "my little sister here, ever since she was little, has been able to detect diseases that even our Father would miss sometimes. When she found out about her ability, she asked our Father to train her in medicine." Then he patted Haruna's head and continued speaking. "She said she wanted to help as many people as possible. That's why we decided that the sacred scroll will be used at its full potential if it is in her hands." He had a proud look in his face as he said this.

"Onii-chan..." Haruna called his name softly, thanking him for how proud he was of her.

"What does the scroll do?" Ukitake asked.

"Let's just say that it helps her do a thorough analysis of anyone," Hayato said. "Anyways, I just came to ask if you needed any help, but since you brought him to this room and you brought the scroll, I'm guessing you don't want any help."

"Yeah..." Haruna replied shortly. "But still, thanks."

"Yup," Hayato said and smiled. "Remember though, I am here for you. Call me if you need any help."

"I will, don't worry."

Then Hayato left the room.

For a few minutes, Ukitake and Haruna stayed quiet. It was more like an understanding silence rather than an awkward silence.

"Let's start then," Haruna finally broke the silence.

"Yeah," Ukitake replied. "What do I have to do?"

"Nothing," she said. "Just lay there and breathe."

"Okay."

Haruna stood next to the bed Ukitake was on and she opened the scroll.

* * *

 **So that is it for Chapter 11! I'm really sorry to keep you waiting for so long! (For those who were actually waiting, if there are any...)**

 **Thanks a lot 3**


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